The Characteristics of Mrs. Wright
another and from the conversation of others, the writer uses this theory to find the presentation of those characters.
Applying the theory stated by M.J. Murphy, it is found that Mrs. Wright was cheerful, lively, liked to sing and wore pretty clothes when she was Minnie
Foster. She was one of the singing girls who sang in the choir when she was single. She was real sweet and pretty, but timid and fluttery, just like the bird she
used to have. MRS. HALE. She-come to think of it, she was kind of like bird itself-real
sweet and pretty, but kind of timid and-fluttery. How-she-did- change… in Barnet, 1994 : 909
MRS. HALE. She used to wear pretty clothes and be lively, when she was Minnie Foster, one of the town girls singing in the choir. But
that…oh, that was thirty years ago… in Barnet, 1994 : 906 Unfortunately, she did change after marrying John Wright. She was not
cheerful anymore after getting along her life with John Wright. The hard character of John Wright affected the way of life of Minnie Foster into the new character of
Mrs. Wright. Mr. John Wright who was introvert and did not like noise, created a quiet and silent house, and automatically she had to live there and went to where
the wind blew in that house. She had no chance to make any cheerfulness she had had when she was young. She surrendered to follow the rule in order to conform
to the oppressive situation. Moreover, they had no children which could make the house a little brighter. She only had a bird, a canary, which could entertain her
with its voice. It was the only thing she loved in that house. Something sounding, singing and could give her peace when she was in trouble, something which could
reduce her loneliness when she was home alone.
MRS. HALE. Wright was close. I think maybe that’s why she kept so much to herself. She didn’t even belong to the Ladies Aid… in
Barnet, 1994 : 906 From the sentences above, Mrs. Hale said that Mrs. Wright did not even
belong to the Ladies Aid. This shows that she spent much time inside the house and made few interactions to others. Even the Hales, the closest neighbor of the
Wrights, they did not know much about John Wright and his wife. John Wright was a close and introvert person and he never brought the
company matters to his house. This made the condition in the house more silent and quiet. John Wright was comfortable with this kind of quiet situation in his
house. As the opposite, his wife was tortured. Her real cheerful life must be changed into silence and quiet one. For years she had to accept this kind of life
with her husband. She was tortured, oppressed and depressed with the life given by her husband. She could not do her part as a woman like what others could. She
lived in her house without any relationship to her neighbors, even her closest neighbor, The Hales. Moreover, she did not belong to the Ladies Aid, a women’s
group that sponsored by a church, regularly met to sew and quilt to earn money that was used for charity. This changing proved that she was affected by her
husband. Her life with John Wright was a kind of prison for her because it was limited by his rule that woman should be home, taking care her husband and the
house, not in the public sphere. From her marriage with John Wright, she got no joy and happiness. All
she had was just tears and sadness with no one to share and no shoulder to cry on.
The only thing that could reduce her sadness and her loneliness was the singing bird in the cage.
On the other side, Mr. Wright did not like birds because they sang and made noise. The noise of the bird would just put him off. Therefore, he killed that
canary by strangling its neck with a rope. Automatically, this harsh action made his wife upset and disappointed. The only thing she had was vanished by her own
husband. She had nothing at all to be enjoyed then. She was more depressed with this kind of situation. She felt that she was killed for the second time, first John
Wright had killed her freedom and the second he had killed the only thing she loved in this world. She had reached the tip of the iceberg, and she could not bear
her anger anymore. She wanted to fight against this oppression and take revenge to what her husband had done to her and her lovely canary. Finally, she decided to
kill him as what he did to her bird, by strangling him when he was in a deep sleep. MRS. HALE. That’s just what Mr. Hale said. There was a gun in the
house. He says that’s what he can’t understand. in Barnet, 1994 : 907
MRS. HALE. [With a slow look around her.] I wonder how it would seem never to have had any children around. [Pause.] No. Wright
wouldn’t like the bird-a thing that sang. She used to sing. He killed that, too. in Barnet, 1994 : 910
From the statements above, it is shown that Mrs. Wright was really depressed with the death of her canary. After her freedom was killed, the only
thing she liked got the same destiny too, killed. She got her limit of her patience and committed to take revenge by strangling her husband as what he did to her
canary, although there was a gun in the house. Logically, people will shoot
somebody when there is a gun in his or her hand to make it easier to kill, but it was different from Mrs. Wright. She preferred to strangle rather than to shoot.
First, she wanted to end the misery she got from him, and second she wanted him to feel the same treatment her canary got. This shows that her anger was really in
a high tension so that she killed her husband the same way as what he did to her canary. For her, killing her husband by strangling his neck was comparable to the
death of her canary and worthier than using a gun. This means that she had buried and neglected all the oppression she got from her husband. She accepted and
obeyed everything driven by her husband until the tragedy of the death of the canary. This tragedy was the turning point of her mind and she ended it all by
killing him as the oppressor and the killer of her freedom. HALE. Well, as if she didn’t know what she was going to do next. And
kind of done up. in Barnet, 1994 : 904 HALE. …And then she – laughed… in Barnet, 1994 : 904
From the statement above, Mrs. Wright intentionally murdered her
husband because she wanted to take revenge for her freedom and her lovely canary that he killed. Besides, she wanted to be free from his oppression she got
all those times. Moreover, Mr. Hale saw that she looked like a kind of done up, and then laughed. This is the proof that she had no regret in doing it and her laugh
means a relief of being freed. The character of Mrs. Wright represents the women feminists in the
American society whose mission is to fight against the patriarchal society. She was the object of the patriarchal society that she could not be free during her life
with John Wright. As human being, she had the limit of her patience and finally
she ended all the oppression she got. The patriarchal system applied in her family which was driven by her husband was over after colonizing for years. She showed
him that it was true that he was strong and the canary was weak, so was she, but she could also be strong to end the oppression. By the bravery and strong will, she
could end the misery in her life.